The white kitten had Yukinoshita Yukino’s hem clamped firmly in its tiny jaws.
Its four stubby legs braced against the floorboards, pulling backward with all its meager might, while its tail stood straight up like a furry, triumphant antenna.
Yukinoshita froze in her chair.
She held that awkward, half-bent posture for nearly ten agonizing seconds.
The hem of her pleated uniform skirt was dragged to the side by the relentless paws, exposing the smooth, pale curve of her thigh to the warm amber light of the setting sun.
She didn’t dare breathe, let alone move.
The kitten’s needle-like milk teeth were snagged in the fabric; if she yanked it away, she would either tear her skirt or hurt the little creature’s mouth.
Neither outcome was acceptable to her.
So she remained rooted to the spot.
Her face flushed a deep, steaming crimson, the color spreading all the way to the rims of her eyes.
Her lips parted, but her pride refused to let her squeeze out a single plea for help.
Tōhō Getsukai watched the silent struggle and let out a low, breathy chuckle.
“Alright, I think that’s enough.”
He stepped up to Yukinoshita and crouched down gracefully beside her chair.
As he moved, his long, silken silver hair cascaded forward, the ends lightly brushing against Yukinoshita’s bare knees.
The sudden, feather-light contact made the Ice Queen stiffen entirely.
Tōhō didn’t look up to admire the view.
His gaze remained entirely fixed on the white fur-ball causing the wardrobe malfunction.
Reaching out with his right hand, he pinched the loose scruff at the back of the kitten’s neck with two fingers and lifted it smoothly.
Scruffing is the universal mother-cat override switch.
The moment the scruff was pinched, the kitten instinctively went limp.
Its muscles relaxed, its tiny limbs curled inward, and it entered a docile transport mode.
The feline underlying code activated flawlessly.
The milk teeth released the pleated fabric, and the entire creature became as harmless as a disconnected appliance.
Simultaneously, Tōhō brought up his left hand, resting his fingertips just under the kitten’s chin, offering two slow, rhythmic scratches.
‘Purr…’
The white cat melted into a puddle of fur and was easily scooped into the crook of his arm.
Crisis averted.
Yukinoshita immediately smoothed her skirt down, her ten fingers clenching the fabric tightly against her knees.
She forced herself to sit up perfectly straight, tilting her chin up a fraction of an inch as she desperately tried to rebuild the shattered persona of Sobu High School’s untouchable Ice Queen.
It was a valiant effort, but the tips of her ears were glowing red enough to boil an egg.
The illusion of absolute composure was thoroughly compromised.
Tōhō Getsukai didn’t retreat to give her space.
Instead, he sat down directly on the chair beside hers.
Not the seat one desk over, but the immediate adjacent chair.
The gap between their shoulders narrowed to a mere fifteen centimeters.
The kitten nestled comfortably in his arms, leaning into the chin scratches and vibrating with a purr so loud it sounded like a tiny, rumbling engine echoing through the empty classroom.
Yukinoshita sat rigid, her back straight as a ruler, her hands folded neatly on her lap.
Her entire body was strung as tight as a bowstring.
Tōhō turned his head, looking up at her through his lashes.
His silver hair draped elegantly over his shoulders, catching the residual golden light of the setting sun.
The illumination softened the edges of his profile, highlighting a face that was already dangerously, excessively beautiful.
“Student Yukinoshita.”
“…What?”
“Would you like to pet it?”
He glanced down at the vibrating ball of fluff in his lap, then lifted his eyes back to her.
“It’s actually very affectionate.”
Yukinoshita’s gaze drifted.
It flicked to the cat, snapped defensively back to her open textbook, and then inevitably drifted back to the white fur.
She wanted to pet it.
But her pride formed a physical barrier she couldn’t quite cross.
Yet, the person sitting beside her simply smiled and waited.
It was a smile devoid of any aggression or mockery, a gentle, patient expression that merely offered her the space to decide without judgment.
Yukinoshita was already quietly taken aback by the flawless sense of boundaries this stunningly beautiful girl maintained.
He didn’t pry into her embarrassment, nor did he lack the patience to let her recover.
“…I am merely checking its health status,” she finally announced, her tone dripping with forced clinical detachment.
“Mm.
Very professional,” Tōhō replied, his eyes curving in amusement.
She extended her right hand.
Her fingers were slender and pale, the nails neatly and practically trimmed.
But halfway across the fifteen-centimeter gap, she froze.
Her hand hovered awkwardly over the kitten’s head, caught in a paralyzing dilemma.
For Yukinoshita Yukino, reaching out to pet a cat required the same monumental effort as screaming how cute something was in the middle of a crowded street.
Seeing her struggle, Tōhō raised his left hand and smoothly intercepted hers mid-air.
Yukinoshita gave a tiny, involuntary tremble.
His fingers were even slimmer than hers, wrapping around her hand with a comforting, steady warmth.
The sensation was unexpectedly—
Before her mind could finish processing the contact, her palm was gently pressed against the kitten’s back.
The soft, warm, rhythmically rising fur met her sensitive fingertips.
“Start from here,” Tōhō instructed, his voice a low, soothing murmur right beside her ear.
He kept his hand over hers, guiding it slowly down the line of the spine.
“Follow the direction of the fur.
Keep your touch light.”
“I know perfectly well how to pet a cat—”
“Then why was your hand shaking just now?”
Yukinoshita snapped her mouth shut, her retort dying on her lips.
Tōhō guided her hand from the middle of the back down to the base of the tail, then looped back up, circling behind the tiny, twitching ears.
His fingertips remained wrapped around the back of her hand, his movements unhurried and deliberate.
The moment their skin overlapped, he silently channeled a microscopic wisp of Hamon Breathing.
A layer of warmth, so faint it was almost imperceptible, seeped through his palm and into hers.
The subtle energy worked its magic, causing the tense girl to subconsciously unwind.
Yukinoshita’s rigid shoulders visibly slumped, losing their defensive posture.
They were sitting close enough now that she could catch the faint, clean scent of citrus shampoo drifting from his hair, a refreshing, grounded scent that wasn’t overly sweet or cloying.
Even his steady body temperature seemed to bleed through their overlapping fingers, anchoring her in the quiet moment.
‘Purr-purr-purr—’
The white cat let out an exaggerated rumble, kicking its hind legs happily before nudging its little head upward, pressing firmly into Yukinoshita’s palm.
Soft.
Warm.
Alive.
Yukinoshita’s fingertips twitched.
Tentatively, she moved her hand on her own, rubbing the soft fur behind its ears a couple of times.
The kitten squeezed its eyes shut in pure bliss, and the volume of its purring doubled.
A completely unfamiliar sensation blossomed in her chest, traveling up from her palm.
It wasn’t the heavy burden of being cared for, nor the exhausting pressure of being needed.
It was far simpler than that.
It was the pure, uncomplicated feeling of being unconditionally trusted by a tiny, fragile creature.
And then, she smiled.
It wasn’t the polite, measured curve she used to deflect social interactions.
It wasn’t the cold, sharp curl she deployed to mock an opponent.
And it certainly wasn’t the fully armed, impenetrable fake smile she wore when dealing with Haruno.
It was a very small, unpracticed, and entirely genuine smile.
It looked almost a little silly in its innocence.
[Contrast Bonding System Notification: The host has guided the target to break through their psychological defenses in the role of a close confidante, causing the target to experience strong positive emotional fluctuations.]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Advanced Literary Appreciation (Passive Skill).
When reading any literary work, automatically analyze its deep narrative structure, metaphorical systems, and the author’s creative intent, and output the analysis conclusions in an easy-to-understand manner.]
‘Literary Appreciation?’Tōhō Getsukai blinked, glancing at the translucent text hovering in his peripheral vision.’Fine.
The blind box system always hands out things completely outside the plan.’ He did, in fact, have a hidden identity as a light novel author, a secret so deeply buried that even his adoptive mother, Eri Kisaki, didn’t know about it.
Being a literary plagiarist with a system might have been a more practical cheat, but he supposed advanced appreciation had its uses.
Yukinoshita was entirely absorbed in her task, her eyes focused softly on the kitten.
Taking advantage of her distraction, Tōhō quietly slipped his hand away.
She didn’t even notice the loss of contact; her ten fingers had already learned to operate independently, stroking the cat’s back in a steady, rhythmic cadence.
The two of them sat side by side in comfortable silence, their silhouettes stretched long and thin across the floorboards by the dying sun.
Suddenly, Yukinoshita spoke, breaking the quiet.
“Student Tōhō.”
“Hm?”
“This cat…
how do you plan to handle it?
If you do not yet have a suitable arrangement plan…”
Yukinoshita paused, deliberating her next words carefully to maintain her logical facade.
“The Service Club activity room possesses ample space and is basically unused after school hours.
In terms of keeping conditions, it is not entirely unfeasible.”
She quickly added, “Of course, this requires the explicit permission of the advisor teacher, as well as regular sanitary maintenance.
I am not saying I am willing to take responsibility for these tasks; I am merely stating the logistical feasibility.”
“Then I’ll leave it in your capable hands, Student Yukinoshita,” Tōhō replied, his tone light and agreeable.
Yukinoshita nodded, a microscopic dip of her chin.
In her lap, the white cat suddenly rolled over, exposing its soft, pink, vulnerable belly to the ceiling.
Her hand hovered over the fluffy stomach, hesitating for two full seconds before she cautiously poked it with one finger.
Quick as a flash, the kitten’s front paws slapped upward, wrapping around her finger in a playful hug.
Yukinoshita’s ears instantly flared red all over again.
Tōhō Getsukai leaned back against his chair, turning his head slightly to take in the scene.
The undisputed, unapproachable Ice Queen of Sobu High School, completely and utterly handled by a tiny white fur-ball.
And the best part?
She was so distracted she didn’t even realize that throughout this entire process, she had been sitting side-by-side with a “boy”—close enough to hear the quiet rhythm of his breathing.
[Akarin’s Note:
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